Twist awoke the next morning to see towering, mist-enshrouded mountains reaching up to the clouds outside his porthole windows. The land below had turned emerald green during the night, broken by jagged gray stone. The peaks were all topped with white and wrapped tightly in haunting, shifting wisps of fog. Twist stared out at the mountains for a while, trying his best to remember any other mountain ranges that might still be between the Vimana and the Himalayas. By the time he'd gotten dressed, he gave up trying and decided to go out and ask someone. An unexpected knock at his door stilled his hand, just as he was already reaching out to open it. Twist felt the same nagging buzz at his neck. Opening the door, he found Jonas outside with a tray holding a pair of plates and two mugs.

  “You were late for breakfast, so I brought you some,” Jonas explained with a smile half obscured by his black goggles. “I was late too. On purpose. Can I interest you in a quiet, nonjudgmental and un-spiteful meal?”

  “Sure,” Twist said, opening the door for him.

  They pushed Twist's trunk into the middle of the room and set their small meal on it, sitting around it on the floor. Jonas put his goggles on his brow and sat so that his vision might not easily fall on Twist.

  “This is probably only the second breakfast I've eaten on this ship,” Twist said before taking a bite of buttered toast.

  “They told me as much,” Jonas said as he stirred sugar into his coffee. “Ara said you usually sleep until lunchtime.”

  “It's not by design, I assure you,” Twist said.

  “Of course, you're always getting yourself into some kind of trouble or other, wearing yourself out fighting pirates and what not. I understand.”

  “You have got to be the most sarcastic person I've ever met,” Twist said, focusing on slicing up his fried tomatoes and sausage.

  “No ... really?” Jonas said, laying it on thick with a wide smile. Twist fought the urge to glare at him.

  “Oh, I wanted to ask someone,” he said, pointing to the windows with his fork. “What mountains are those?”

  “We're flying over the feet of the Himalayas,” Jonas said. “I think we're technically in India right now, but Nepal is just across the next border.”

  “Then we're almost there,” Twist said, stunned, watching as another crag of gray and green sailed by the windows, wrapped in the mist.

  “Just about,” Jonas said. “No one will tell me exactly where we're going to land, but Nepal isn't that big. We should reach our destination by tonight, sometime.”

  “Why won't they tell you?” Twist asked.

  “They think I'm going to try to steal the clockwork girl and sell her for a load of money,” he said calmly, and then took a bite of fried egg.

  Twist stared at his face from the side.

  “Twist, stop it,” Jonas said around the bite, dragging his eyelids down.

  “You're not going to, are you?” Twist asked, not looking away from his shielded eyes. The buzz at the back of his neck grew stronger as he stared at him, but he knew Jonas was feeling the same thing.

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  Jonas's eyes shifted toward Twist, while still staying low. “A walking, talking, life-sized puppet made of clockwork? It would be worth a lot.”

  “But she's not just a puppet, she's still a person,” Twist said, his small voice tight. “So you're not seriously going to try to steal her away just to sell her off, are you?”

  “According to the story,” Jonas said, frowning, “the princess, whose soul haunted that puppet originally, died so long ago that the whole story is considered a myth. According to Ara, the puppet is lifeless now, and it's only Aazzi's guess that it's the princess's ghost that is still haunting the palace she died in. What makes you think you're going to find anything alive when we get there?”

  Twist's vision slipped away from Jonas, the buzz lessening instantly. “Arabel brought me a piece of her,” he said. “When I touched it...” He shook his head. “She's still alive. I'm sure of it.”

  “If you say so,” Jonas muttered, rubbing at his neck. “Look, it's pointless to be worried about me at all,” he said. “Uncle Howell is planning to do the same thing, and he has a ship.”

  “What?”

  “Why else would they fly from Nepal all the way to London and back again?” Jonas asked. “Did you think this was a charity mission?”

  “They told me they weren’t pirates,” Twist said as he felt his heart beat harder. “Repeatedly! They get mad whenever I even call them pirates.”

  “They're treasure hunters,” Jonas said. “Pirates steal from people, treasure hunters steal from time and legend.”

  “Oh no...” Twist said, a cold lump of ice beginning to grow in his stomach. “What am I doing?” His breath came faster now, unbidden.

  “Twist?” Jonas said, his hand stilled a breath away from a comforting touch. He took his hand away with obvious effort. “Calm down. It's all right.”

  “No, it isn't,” Twist said, shaking his head. “I wanted to help her! She needs someone to help her, and I thought that I could.”

  “You can,” Jonas said, stopping himself from looking into Twist's eyes to reassure him. “You will. I saw it. I can see the future, remember?”

  “But then what?” Twist asked, his small voice ready to break.

  “Twist,” Jonas said gently, moving in so close behind him that Twist could feel the heat off his skin. The buzz at the back of his neck grew intense enough to take on its own heat. “It's going to be all right,” Jonas said. “If you fix the puppet, and it actually does come to life and becomes a real person again, that will change everything.”

  “It will?” Twist asked hesitantly, turning to just see Jonas out the corner of his eye.

  “Yes, it will. These people, while rather cold towards me, are not evil. In fact,” he said brightly, “they are more cruel and heartless to me than they are to anyone else. And they never tried to sell me off for loads of money, against my will.”

  To Twist's surprise, the warmth of Jonas so close beside him became relaxing. He felt his heart calm despite the hum of energy running fluidly along his neck and down his spine. The simple fact that Jonas seemed to truly care that Twist was upset calmed him as well.

  “Well,” Twist muttered over his shoulder, “you wouldn't be worth as much,” he said, forcing some level of brightness into his voice.

  “Now, now,” Jonas said, his words colored with a smile. “I sold myself to pirates, and got a pretty penny for me.”

  “Are you obsessed with money?” Twist asked, trying to give his words a snap.

  “I'm not obsessed with it,” Jonas said, backing off again. “I'm just saving up for freedom. It's expensive these days.” The hum calmed back down to the usual buzz, leaving Twist's senses slightly chilled and hollow in its absence.

  By the time they had finished eating, Twist's fears had quieted into a nervous murmur that hid beneath the rest of his thoughts. No matter what the crew planned to do, they were moments away from her now. After what felt like an eternity, after crossing countries, combating countless pirates, and pushing himself to new limits, Twist finally saw Nepal sail silently under the shadow of the airship.